Can you eat pasta and rice at night?

An extended belief in nutrition is that eating pasta or rice at night is counterproductive, either because it makes you fat or because it is bad for your health. The truth of all is that these foods can be consumed at any time of the day, but it must be done efficiently.

The first thing to keep in mind is that these foods are fundamentally energetic. Thus, Its function is to provide energy or help recover the body after an effort. Then, if possible, they should be used for this purpose, leaving aside their flavor.

When can you eat pasta and rice at night?

If during the day you ate a small amount of carbohydrates and exercised (especially in the afternoon), at night it is a good time to consume these foods. Its main function will be recuperative. In this way they will help replenish muscle and liver glycogen.

If not, and if the next morning you will return to strenuous exercise, The risk of muscle injury increases. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that the levels of circulating glucose and muscle glycogen are adequate before a high intensity exercise.

However, if the idea is to reduce weight, it may be a possible solution to eliminate carbohydrates from dinner and exercise on an empty stomach. But if this strategy is carried out, the morning exercise should be of low intensity to minimize risks.

The consumption of pasta and rice during dinner can be a good option in the case of athletes. Also when few carbohydrates are consumed at other times of the day.

Eating pasta or rice at night has an energetic function and is aimed, above all, at anaerobic athletes. These types of individuals will benefit greatly from the consumption of these foods. and, in fact, they will be an essential part for improving their performance.

It is even necessary to make large carbohydrate intakes when a glycogen load is made prior to a competition. In these situations, the muscle and liver deposits are emptied first for 24-48 hours to subsequently oversaturate the reserves and take advantage of the availability of these nutrients in physical activity.

These strategies are typical of strength sports, sports by weight or anaerobic endurance categories. Further, They involve the consumption of rice and pasta in large quantities, also at dinner.

Read also: Brown rice salad: delicious and low in calories

When should you not eat pasta and rice at night?

In the case of sedentary people who do not exercise regularly, Night carbs are not usually very functional. They may make more sense at the first meals of the day, especially with a view to reducing appetite.

However, when night comes, It is better to avoid them and resort to protein foods and vegetables. Dishes with volume and low energy density that allow you to go to bed without appetite and rest properly, but that do not provide a glucose that is not going to be used or stored in the form of glycogen.

As the years progress, carbohydrates become less and less necessary. Conversely, Protein demands begin to increase to prevent muscle damage and destruction.

For this reason, pasta and rice, both at night and at any time of day, they become secondary or residual foods in the diet, behind proteins and fats.

The consumption of pasta and rice at night should be limited to people who do sports of high physical demand. Otherwise, it is unnecessary and can affect weight gain.

And the diabetics?

In this case it is necessary to differentiate between type 1 and type 2. In the case of the former, it is necessary to resort to a ration of nocturnal carbohydrates to control the glucose curve.

However, in the case of the seconds, It can be positive to remove carbohydrates from dinner and even perform certain fasts. In this way, body weight will be reduced and glucose control will be improved, which will result in a symptomatic improvement of the disease and a reduction in associated complications.

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conclusion

You can eat pasta and rice at night as long as the object of this intake is related to sports. In case of sedentary people or individuals who intend to lose weightIt is best to reduce carbohydrate intake as much as possible.

The simplest thing in these cases is not to eat them at night since it is less likely to spend an appetite sleeping and, therefore, caloric reduction will be more bearable. Keep that in mind!